


Forbidden Fruit

by Monsoon



Series: Mythology AU [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Greek Mythology, Athena!Hanji, Hades/Thanatos!Levi, M/M, Persephone!Eren
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-14
Updated: 2016-06-24
Packaged: 2018-04-20 18:44:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4798340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Monsoon/pseuds/Monsoon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of stories from my Greek Mythology AU where Eren is Persephone, Levi is Hades, and I'll make everything else up as I go.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Forbidden Fruit

**Author's Note:**

> This is not a multichap in the conventional sense; this is not in chronological order and there is not particular rhyme or rhythm on which I base each individual story. It's just a collection of stories for a particular AU, there will be jumping back and forth.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren helplessly waits in his bedroom for the escort sent by his mother to take him back home, leaving Levi and the Underworld behind for good.
> 
> A collection of all my drabble pieces from my Mythology AU (originally posted on tumblr)

Eren’s stomach grumbled; a loud, grotesque gurgle that seemed to echo through the silent bedroom. He groaned and rolled onto his side on the large, cold bed, curling up in a ball and digging his fingers into his abdomen. He could almost  _feel_ the stomach acid eating through him from the inside for lack of anything to digest. How long had it been since he’d last eaten? Being the son of the goddess of the harvest meant he’d never gone hungry before in his life.

“Oh, you poor pet.” He bolted upright in bed at the sound of the disembodied voice wafting from the shadows. A tall, lean figure began to materialist from the darkened corner of his bedchamber and he scrambled back on the bed as it stepped towards him.

“Relax, sunshine. It’s just me.” Eren felt his breathing return to normal and he let out a relieved sigh, hand clutching his chest over his racing heart.

“Don’t  _do_  that Hanji. Last time that happened, a lost soul charged me and I almost had a heart attack.” The goddess before him glanced around the room furtively as if checking for any such apparitions.

“Ugh, that’s why I hate popping down here to visit. Looks like you’re quickly getting the hang of it.” Eren shrugged and sighed. It was true, though; while the idea of doomed souls and ghosts still creeped him out, Petra had taught him how to handle them now at least.

Hanji continued to look around his spacious room, dragging a fingernail over the dusty tomes lining the bookshelf and casually perusing the small, ancient ornaments decorating the mantelpiece.

“What are you doing here, Hanji? Did Levi call you?” Eren shuffled to the foot of his bed, drawing his knees up under his chin as he watched the goddess. Hanji huffed, flapping a hand dismissively in his direction.

“Gracious no! Levi doesn’t even know I’m here, which is why I’ve had to lower myself to cheap materialization tricks. You know that’s not my style. I like a good BOOM!” Eren subconsciously leaned back as Hanji spread their arms to demonstrate their point. “As for why I’m here,” Hanji stepped towards him, tilting his chin up with one finger. “Can’t I visit my favourite nephew without needing an explanation?” They feigned a hurt expression and Eren rolled his eyes, pushing their hand away. As eccentric as they liked to act, Eren had long since learned that everything they did, no matter how bizarre, they did for a reason.

“The Goddess of wisdom and war strategy doesn’t do  _anything_ without explanation.” Hanji winked, tapping him on the nose like he’d answered their question correctly.

“No no, you’re right. I’m here because a little birdie told me  _someone_  was having second thoughts about returning topside…” Eren’s eyes widened at this information, his smile dropping immediately. How did they know? And worse, who else did? His heart seized up at the thought his mother might have come to know of his reservations. He wasn’t supposed to like it down here, after all. His expressions must have showed what he was thinking because the older goddess laughed.

“Relax, petal. No one else knows.” Eren released the breath he’d been holding, but he still watched Hanji circling his room warily. They didn’t just wander down to Hades to confirm rumours, after all. “It’s rather chilly down here, isn’t it?” Hanji said conversationally, rubbing their forearms and suppressing a shiver. “Let me guess…”

“ _Levi_.” Eren said it the same time they did, and they both laughed. Hanji shook their head.

“He can be so petty sometimes. He’s feeling this as much as you are.” They poked a wilted pot plant meaningfully, arching an eyebrow in his direction. Eren flushed under their scrutiny; he hadn’t realised his mood had gotten to the stage where they started been affecting the plants around him, he really was a bad as Levi. “Difference is, at least you know this hurts him as much as it does you. You realise he’s still under the impression you hate him?”

“Yes of  _course_  I do, but what good could come of telling him that now? Hermes will be here soon and I’ll have to return home.” Eren looked down at his feet, mumbling the next words against his knees. “He can move on faster if he thinks I never loved him back.” Hanji tutted at his words, coming round to stand before him with their hands on their hips.

“That doesn’t sound like the firecracker I know and love. You really going to admit defeat that easily?”

Eren looked up at them, glowering. He didn’t need to be reminded how powerless he was; of _course_  he wished there was something he could do. “I don’t have a choice, do I? I  _never_ have a choice. People just decide everything for me, even Levi decided to drag me down here himself.” He glared into the fire crackling in the hearth, fuming silently. Hanji seemed to contemplate his words for a few moments, turning them over in their head and considering them from every angle.

“…So you want to stay here? With Levi?” 

“Does it matter what I want?” Eren snapped back. His mother had already pleaded his case; he was being escorted home again regardless of what he wanted.

“ _Make_  it matter. Just because you weren’t given a choice, doesn’t mean it’s not there.” Eren glanced up, interest sparked by Hanji’s cryptic words. They had sunk to a crouch before him, watching him carefully, an indecipherable look in their eyes. Eren could practically  _see_  the cogs working in their mind. 

The moment was interrupted by another ill-timed grumble from his protesting belly. Eren pulled a face and whined. How could hunger hurt so much?

“Uh oh, that doesn’t sound good. I suggest to do something about that quickly.” Hanji rose to their feet and Eren looked up in surprise.

“Wait, you’re going? Already?” His aunt didn’t respond, turning and making their way over to the darkened shadow from which they’d appeared, long cloak swirling behind them. “What did you mean, though? What can I do?” His questions were cut short when Hanji threw something at him. Momentarily distracted, Eren scrambled to catch the crimson orb hurtling towards his head. When he looked up again, Hanji had already vanished, leaving him alone in his room once again.

He looked down at his hands and scowled. His stomach growled at the sight of the shining, ripe pomegranate in his grasp. While he was famished and the pomegranate looked mouth-wateringly tempting, it wasn’t like Hanji to forget something as key as the fact that he couldn’t eat anything here. Eren turned the fruit over in his hands thoughtfully.

* * *

 

Eren hovered by the shadow of the doorway, toes curling against the chilly granite floor. The dark, polished stone was covered in a spidery web of frost that crunched under his bare feet, glistening in the flickering firelight of the dim torches. He’d never seen anything like this during his entire time in the Underworld. He’d quickly learned that the atmosphere and temperatures were highly reactive to how the God of the the Underworld was feeling, although it rarely fluctuated into anything unbearable until now. The frigid cold and freezing air were a testament to Levi’s foul mood.

Eren rolled the pomegranate between his palms, eyeing the figure slumped in his seat at the far end of the throne room. Levi rested his chin against one fist, glaring coldly at the smouldering coals in the fireplace, dark nails tapping restlessly against a carved, skeletal armrest.  The throne was covered in ropey webs of frost and icicles, extending outwards around him in thin, lacy tracks like a cobweb. The sullen God was surprisingly human in his misery.

Eren stepped forwards carefully, skirts swishing behind him and sweeping a clear pathway in his wake. The ice melted away before him like it was retreating from his very presence, ghostly wafts of steam curling into the air as the temperature in the room slowly rose. There was no way Levi couldn’t have instantly sensed his presence, yet he didn’t lift his head at his approach, although Eren did note the way his pale fingers dug into the armrest.

“Hermes will be here soon. He’ll be expecting you to greet him,” Levi said.  _Why are you here?_  Was the unspoken question.

Cerberus, who had been resting at her masters feet with her heads bowed meekly, looked up at Eren’s approach. Three tongues lolled out and her tail lifted in a happy wag, hoping, probably, that Eren might do a better job of lifting Levi’s spirit than she could.

“There there, puppy,” Eren cooed, crouching to scratch one of the hell-hounds great, shaggy heads. “It’s not your fault your papa’s being moody.” He glanced up slyly as he spoke, but Levi seemed to be making an extra-special effort to avoid eye contact, glaring vehemently into the fire which had sprung back to life with Eren’s proximity. He sighed. “I still have some time; it’s not like I have anything to pack.” Eren watched Levi carefully for a reaction. He saw the tell-tale twitch of a dark brow and allowed himself a triumphant smirk.

“Now why are you sulking? It’s not like  _you_  were the one grabbed from your home and dragged into the burning pits of Hades to wed the God of the Underworld.” A muscle in Levi’s jaw twitched. Eren wasn’t holding back any punches, though. He was annoyed.

He had been angry when he’d first been kidnapped, but that was an old grievance. The initial fury at being snatched up like a prize for the taking had simmered into something else over time. He’d lived in the Underworld long enough now to have grown accustomed to its serpentine halls, quaint customs and peculiar inhabitants. Dare he say he’d even developed a fondness for the God of the Underworld himself over time? He really hadn’t meant to. He’d tried so very hard to hate him, but his initial resentment had diminished significantly over time as he’d grown to learn more about his captor. Levi was a taciturn soul, his silence made him an enigma and Eren’s natural curiosity had him instantly intrigued. What had really caught him by surprise was how  _well_  Levi treated him, like some honoured guest; he’d never forced him to do anything, even expressing distress when he had refused to eat. He’d seemed genuinely concerned for him, and Eren was surprised to gradually learn that the fearsome tales his mother had recounted of ‘Hades’ did not quite ring true to the man himself. Eren had expected that a man who’d snatch up a bride would be the type to presume to assert his ownership over them, and had been braced to defend himself. Instead, he’d found that Levi was not the entitled jackass he’d expected, but perhaps just incredibly bad at fostering relationships. Bad enough to even warrant  _stealing_  a bride than wooing one.

“You must hate me,” Levi didn’t look at Eren when he spoke, his grey eyes were distant and guarded, but by now Eren had learned enough to see they also looked troubled. “You’ll be glad to be rid of me soon.”

Eren scowled; not that Levi saw it, preoccupied as he was staring dramatically into space.

“ _Look_  at me when you speak to me.” Levi’s eye’s flickered towards him, more curious than surprised by the steely edge in his voice. Well, at least now he had his attention.

“Don’t you  _dare_  presume to know what I feel. I’m tired of people handling me with kid gloves, choosing what’s best for me because they always thought I was too naïve or delicate to handle my own. I’ve had my mother baby me all my life; I do  _not_  need you to do the same.” Eren glared up at Levi defiantly, still perched on the step at his feet. Levi’s brows had furrowed ever so slightly as he considered the boy at his feet.

“I don’t hate you. I thought I made that quite obvious, actually.” Levi was slower than he thought if he honestly believed all those nights Eren had let him show him around his domain were the actions of someone who disliked his company. “I don’t like your methods, though,” he continued, and he was pleased to find that Levi seemed to be hanging onto his every word, pale eyes darting over his face attentively. His mother had never listened to him like this. Over-protective and over-bearing, she always interrupted with the same spiel of how ‘he didn’t know what he spoke of. He didn’t know the things  _she_  knew about the world out there that was dangerous, corrupt and manipulative; just waiting to devour him in his clueless innocence.’

“My methods?” He was surprised when Levi slipped off his throne, lowering himself down to the step above the one he sat on so their eyes were level. For a moment Eren’s heart raced at the proximity, but Levi didn’t look like he was trying to crowd in his space or intimidate him. He looked like he was genuinely interested in what he had to say.

“You  _kidnapped_  me, Levi. Why on earth did you think that would endear me? I’ve spent my whole life having my every move closely watched and guarded; I’m not a child to be ordered around and I’m not an object to be taken.” He didn’t think anything he was saying was particularly ground-breaking, but Levi seemed positively enthralled nonetheless. It was nice, he found, to have someone who valued his sentiments so much. Who didn’t dismiss or invalidate his opinions because of his age and presumed inexperience. Eren suddenly felt emboldened by Levi’s attention and he subconsciously leaned forward.

“I admit…” he began, and he saw something in the older man’s eyes spark with interest as he too leaned into the secret even though the throne room was completely deserted of anyone to overhear. “When you first snatched me up in that field, I was a little excited.” Eren bit back a smile, feeling himself blush at the admission. What would his mother say if she heard?

“When I grabbed you?” Levi’s expression was stunned, a small surprised smile dancing across his lips.

“It was the adrenaline!” Eren defended. “I mean, it’s not like I appreciate being stolen by strange men while I’m playing in fields.” Levi shook his head hurriedly as if to say ‘ _no, no, of course not’_ and Eren couldn’t help but grin as he continued. “Just the sense of adventure, you know? Of being in a situation that wasn’t carefully controlled or monitored by someone. That unpredictability!” Levi was nodding along emphatically, caught up in Eren’s exuberance.

“You know, this all could have been avoided if you’d just  _asked_  for my hand.” Eren dropped it in shyly, almost ashamed to admit it. Levi blinked, taking a moment to turn over in his head what Eren had just confessed.

“…Your mother would never have agreed.”

“This isn’t about my mother!” Eren exclaimed, nails unconsciously digging into the pomegranate in his frustration. “That’s what I’ve been trying to  _say_ , Levi! I’m mad at you for not asking  _me_. I’m mad that no one ever gave  _me_  a choice about anything! All I ever wanted was to be given my own choice; the autonomy to make my  _own_  decisions about my  _own_  future.”

“Eren.” Levi’s gaze was steady and serious, his cold, slim fingers closed around Eren’s, clasping them in his. “…Are you telling me you would say yes?” His eyes were so hopeful and sincere. The legends about this man’s heart of stone were so very wrong. Eren couldn’t help raising one hand to brush his fingers across the pale alabaster of Levi’s cheekbone, cool under his touch.

“I like it here, Levi.” Levi’s eyes darted between his, searching for any sign of hesitance, but he would find none.  “I’ve never felt so independent and alive as I have with you. I want to stay.” Eren had never been surer of anything in his life. He loved his mother with all his heart. He loved the water nymphs that he played while his mother worked, and the sunny fields full of wildflowers stretching as far as the eye could see, but the Underworld gave him a sense of freedom and life he’d never experienced on the surface, as strange as it sounded. And he didn’t want to leave. Levi was watching him like he was the sun, like he couldn’t believe he was in front of him saying what he was. Like he expected him to disappear any moment now. Suddenly, his smile faded.

“But Hermes…?”

Ah, the final obstacle; Eren’s mother. She’d been throwing quite the tantrum since he’d disappeared; crops were barren and dying and the people were starving without their harvest. Eventually Zeus couldn’t turn a blind eye any longer and finally relented to her protests, sending Hermes down to retrieve Eren. Naturally, that didn’t quite sit well with him. Didn’t  _he_  get any say in the matter? Was he to be ferried back and forth like some prize, expected to sit mutely while everyone else decided his life for him? Well, he wouldn’t stand for that. He’d spilled his woes to Hanji and wasn’t disappointed with their advice; they weren’t the Goddess of wisdom and war strategy for nothing, after all.

Eren smiled slyly and lifted the plump, ripe pomegranate before him.

“Did you think I brought this for you?” He asked. Levi looked between him and the fruit in confusion. Confusion that turned into alarm when Eren snatched the dagger from his belt and used it to cut into the fruit, crimson juices dripping down his fingers and staining his white robes.

“You can’t eat that, Eren,” Levi warned, placing a stilling hand over Eren’s. “If you eat food from the Underworld, you’ll be forbidden from…” His voice petered off as the realisation hit him.

“…Returning to the world of the living,” Eren finished with a knowing smile.

“You’ve been spending far too much time with Hanji,” Levi’s expression didn’t match his words though; his eyes were bright and he was smiling, a full proper smile like Eren had never seen on him before. It was beautiful. He wanted to see it more often.

“Can’t be helped,” Eren shrugged. He looked at Levi all doe-eyed and innocent as he raised a juice-coated hand to his lips, licking the sweet, red tracks that ran down his wrist slowly and, deliberately without once breaking eye contact. Levi swallowed thickly, his gaze glued to the pinks lips sucking around an index finger. Eren’s heart raced with anticipation under Levi’s dark, ravenous gaze. Oh, if his mother could see him now…

“I’ve been down here for  _days_. Hungry, cold and alone. I’m so silly too; it’s not so wild an idea that I might eat a few, stray pomegranate seeds in secret…” Levi found himself nodding along with Eren’s words, positively mesmerized by the creature before him.

“Not so hard to believe at all,” he echoed and Eren grinned with delight.

Eren’s gaze was heated and wicked. He skirted forward on his knees and Levi fell back to accommodate him, unable to look away from those captivating green eyes. The boy settled on Levi’s lap, legs on either side straddling him as he pulled himself closer still. One arm wrapped around Levi’s shoulders while he traced the outline of Levi’s lips with the fingers of his other hand. Eren tugged his lower lip between his teeth, watching the way Levi’s tongue darted out to taste the syrupy trail. He could feel the older man’s fingers ghost up his thighs under his skirts, tracing patterns that left his skin blazing. He felt pinned under the God’s dark gaze. He didn’t mind being controlled if it was like this.

“There’s nothing innocent about you, is there?” Levi’s voice was low and ragged, a heated whisper against his lips. Eren found himself leaning in until his lips brushed the shell of Levi’s ear. He felt the man beneath him shiver. He felt powerful.

“Oh?” Eren breathed against the skin of Levi’s neck. “Are you disappointed, my Lord?”

Levi’s senses were overwhelmed. All he could taste was the pomegranate, all he could smell were the wildflowers pinned in Eren’s hair, and all he could  _feel_  was the boy pressed against him, his breath tickling his neck as his fingers tangled in his hair pulling hard enough to hurt. When he found his voice again, it came out in a hoarse, breathless whisper, like Eren had stolen the very air from his lungs.

“God no.”

Had he a soul, it would have been doomed for sure.


	2. Spring

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also originally from tumblr.

“Eren?”

Levi sat up in his bed, squinting through the darkness as Eren approached, bare feet padding silently on the freezing flagstone of their bedroom floor. The room was lit by a single candle that was burning low, making shadows stretch and dance eerily across the walls. Quite fitting for the King of the Underworld, he supposed.

“ _Shh_ , not so loud. I’m not supposed to be here, you know,” Eren whispered as he drew closer, gathering up his skirts so he could perch on the edge of the bed beside his husband. Levi’s posture relaxed and he slid back down onto his pillows, but he watched Eren with bagged, tired eyes that looked like they did not quite believe what they were seeing. Pale fingers slid across the silk sheets until they felt Eren’s wrist and he watched the ghostly digits trace circles on his tan skin.

“I must be dreaming. You can’t be here.” Levi’s smile was wistful and his grey eyes fond. Eren’s heart ached as he brushed his fingers through the older man’s raven hair, pushing the stray locks off his face so he could lean in and plant a kiss on his forehead. He felt Levi’s fingers tighten minutely around his wrist, as if securing him to his side. He really did think Eren was a dream that would sift away between his fingers should he let go.

“You’re not dreaming, I really am here.” When Hanji had dropped by earlier that day, Eren at first didn’t believe their account of how badly Levi was taking his absence. Sure, Eren wasn’t enjoying their separation at all either, but it had to be done. He had to return to earth every year to his mother for Spring, only going back to Levi and the Underworld once the season for growth had passed. He still had a few more weeks in the world of the living, but after Hanji’s words, there was no way he could stay away. He had to see his husband, if only for a day. “Mother’s gone away for a feast, so I thought I’d come check up on you.” Levi’s finger’s tangled in the cloth of his dress and Eren heard him inhale deeply, as if trying to imprint his scent of spring and wildflowers permanently into his memory.

“They’ll notice, you know. When the flowers start to wilt and the clouds obscure the sun. The people will pray and your mother will find out.” It was true, even one day without him would cause pretty drastic changes. There was no way Eren could leave without people noticing, but that wasn’t the problem; he didn’t expect to conduct the visit through secrecy, he just had to do it when his mother wasn’t around to stop him.

“One day won’t hurt. I’m sure they’ll understand,” Eren breathed the words against his husband’s forehead. “Now what’s all this I heard about you sulking around and resigning yourself to your bed. That’s hardly an image fit for the God of the Underworld.” Levi groaned wearily at Eren’s chastising tone.

“It’s so cold without you here.” Eren laughed quietly, tracing the outline of Levi’s lips in the dark. He felt them quirk up at the sound.

“You’re in Hell, my dear. I’m sure you can find fire somewhere.”

“I meant our bed.” Levi’s fingers closed around his, holding his hand in place so he could press a chaste kiss to his wrist. His whispered words were murmured against blushing skin and Eren was certain he could feel his racing pulse against his lips. “It’s far too cold and empty without you.”

Eren felt his heart was fit to burst. In the past, he used to hate it when spring was over and it was time for the leaves to fall from trees and cold winds to rake across the lands. For the first time in his life, he wanted to season to be over faster so he could return to his place by his husband’s side. The world might grow colder, but their shared bed was always warm.

Eren climbed onto the bed, crawling over Levi’s frame and onto his side where he curled up under the sheets. He pressed himself against Levi, his head over his heart, and felt Levi’s arm wrap around him in return and hold him tight.

“Does that feel better? It’s a little warmer now, if only for one night.” Levi squeezed him back slightly, his free hand finding its way to Eren’s hair where it started to card through the locks lazily.

“So this is what the human’s call spring.”


	3. Part 1: Lyre, Lyre

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _'So if the cold weather gets here because Persephone is going back to her husband does that mean that these random really warm days are ones where Hades fucks up and Persephone spends the night at her mother’s until he gets his act together?'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by [this](http://monsoondownpour.tumblr.com/post/128902831000/thesadisticsiren-merryreynamas#tumblr_notes%20) post and a touch of the story of Orpheus & Eurydice! This is a tale of two parts.
> 
> This two shot was actually written for [erenbaegerr's](erenbaegerr.tumblr.com) birthday last year but I ran out of steam (-_-;) soz

Sounds carry in the Underworld. It’s all black granite hallways, flagstone floors, and towering, crystal chambers, so loud noises always had the tendency to echo hauntingly. Levi wasn’t overly fond of such disturbances; they shattered the tranquillity of his domain. He made his preferences clear; the sounds of tortured souls screaming in anguish was strategically muffled by spells and astute design, and his followers knew what places echoed the most and kept their louder activities well away from the area sanctioned as Hades’ living quarters. The unnaturally quiet halls just made Hades that much eerier. It really was a dead silence.

Most of the time.

The sound of a heavy stone door slamming shut loudly enough to send vibrations through the floor had everyone momentarily freezing in place. Auruo dropped the spoon he’d been holding back into his bowl, splashing broth everywhere.

“Did you hear that?” Petra asked, voice hushed. The silence that rung out after the loud noise made the air crackle with fragile anticipation, too deathly still to want to shatter with loud conversation. Waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“I doubt anyone _didn’t_ ,” Auruo hissed back, eyeing the domed ceiling above them like he half expected cracks to appear in the stone. “What do you think it was?”

“Either Levi is angry, or someone’s going to get it.”

“Levi doesn’t slam doors, though,” Petra said. Auruo smirked.

“Then someone’s going to get it.” He quickly downed the rest of his meal and stood up. “Come on, I want to be there to watch this.” Petra shook her head disapprovingly, but nonetheless hurried to follow.

Three floors up, they remembered the one other person this side of the Styx that could slam doors in the Underworld with no repercussions.

“You’re heartless!” Eren’s voice echoed through the caverns and hallways long before they actually saw him. Eren was, in general, a very loud individual. Their coupling had shocked everyone at first; they were surprised his vivacity didn’t irritate the taciturn God of the Underworld, although it soon became quite clear they were the type of opposites that attracted. And also the type of opposites that could apparently get under each other’s skin like nothing else could. Case in point.

“Eren…” Levi sounded weary, like this had been going on for a while now. Petra and Auruo crept along the hallway and piled on top of one another so they could peer around the doorframe at the disturbance. They were at the entrance to Hades, right on the shore of The Styx. Eren was struggling to drag his bags down the narrow jetty while Levi stood off to the side, trying to placate his raging bride without daring to actually physically intervene. Cerberus cowered at her master’s feet, watching Eren with doleful eyes and flinching at every stomp of Eren’s footsteps. Even the guard dog of The Underworld held healthy fear of a fuming Eren, but then again, she did have an intimate conception of the fragile state that was mortality. “Sweetheart, listen to me—”

“Don’t ‘ _sweetheart’_ me,” Eren rounded on his husband, eyes blazing. Petra and Auruo, although still safely undetected, instinctively shrank back at the sight; there was a reason why mortals only dared evoke Persephone’s name when cursing others. Levi, to his credit, barely flinched. “You stone-cold monster. Do you feel nothing at all?” He got right in Levi’s face, teeth bared as he spat the words so venomously, Petra wondered what on earth Levi had done to incur such wrath. She noticed now that Charon had moored his vessel off the jetty and was watching the lover’s spat with hollow eyes, chin perched on the end of his oar. Elbowing Auruo to get his attention, she carefully edged around the arguing couple and towards the Ferryman.

“Chaz!”

“Hm?” The skeleton jerked to attention, so enthralled by the fight he hadn’t even noticed their approach. He turned to face them, and his featureless skull yellowed with age still somehow managed to convey his pleasant surprise. “Oh, you two! Hello, hello, how are we?” Auruo ignored the cheerful greeting, watching Eren warily with one eye.

“What’s going on, do you know? What the Tartarus did Levi do to piss him off now?” Charon shrugged his bony shoulders and the swathes of his grey, tattered cloak drowned most of the movement.

“You heard Orpheus was down here, didn’t you? I’m sure you must have _literally_ heard him.” Petra and Auruo nodded. The man had a gift for music that could not be compared to any other. It was no secret he’d ventured down to the Underworld to seek his late wife, charming Cerberus at the gates with his lyre and getting so far as to even arrange a meeting with Levi himself. It was also no secret that he’d been turned down; Levi wasn’t cruel, but he was fair, and those were just the rules.

“Well Eren is angry he turned him away,” Charon explained, waving a skeletal hand in the direction of the bickering deities. “He was won over by Orpheus’ lyre-playing and demanded Levi let what’s-her-face, uhh, Eurydice, return topside. Of course our Lord said no, them’s the rules, and as you see…” again, he gestured forward. “Things are getting nasty.”

“Do you even love me? Are you even _capable_ of feeling love at all? How can you be so heartless; if that were me that had died, wouldn’t you do the same?!” Petra winced as Eren harsh lashing.

“Of course I do, but there are _rules_. I can’t just let people in and out at my leisure.”

“I return to the world of the living every year! What about that?”

“Eurydice _died_ , Eren. She literally stepped into a snake nest, got bitten, and died – _as mortals do_. You aren’t dead, you can make the passage, like Armin did, Hanji does, and Heracles did too.”

“Are you saying you can’t, then? Are you saying there is _no way_ Eurydice can leave here, ever?” Eren dropped the bag he’d resumed dragging down the jetty and turned to face his husband, hands on his hips and waiting.

“What are those bags? Is he going somewhere?” Auruo asked.

“ _Shh!_ This is the good bit!” Charon waved at Auruo to shut him up, his frame shaking as he watched, riveted. Petra realised after a moment that the movement was the skeleton laughing.

Levi hesitated just a fraction too long, and Eren’s face fell. He looked at his husband sadly, all the previous anger and fury suddenly drained from his demeanour like a storm that passed as quickly as it came.

“He loved her so much.” Eren looked down, his fingers twisting in the white fabric of his gown. The flower wreath braided into his hair looked like it had wilted several days in the past few minutes, and the temperature dropped just a few degrees. Nothing unbearable, but certainly noticeable. Petra couldn’t tell if it were Levi or Eren who was the cause. “You know how rare it is to find love that pure in a place like this. I thought you of all people would understand.”

“Eren, I _do_ , but—“

“Yet you can’t even do this one thing.” The brunet raised his head, his eyes hard as he stared down his husband. “You are the ruler of the Underworld, and you cannot do this _one_ thing. Don’t tell me about the rules, Levi. I know the rules as I know how easily they are bent. The rules never affect Poseidon or Zeus, who twist them at their leisure for their own gain. Here is a situation to benefit two innocents at no detriment to any others, and you suddenly preach the rules to _me_.” Eren shook his head, and the way he looked at Levi made Petra’s heart hurt. She could tell this was getting nasty, and perhaps she should step in no matter how afraid she was of Eren’s anger, but she was frozen to the spot. The kind of trance you couldn’t snap out of when watching a disaster, completely in awe of the destruction unfolding before your eyes.  
“You are a coward, Levi.” The older man flinched at the words. “Spineless. Your detachment from emotions and mindless adherence to the Rules will be your downfall. I cannot love a man who feels nothing.” Petra closed her eyes. She heard Auruo suck in a shocked gasp behind her. Those were very final words.

“Charon!” The Ferryman snapped to attention, the gleeful expression wiped from his bony features immediately.

“My Liege.” He bowed lowly as Eren approached and swung his bag onto the ferry, which lurched and bobbed alarmingly under its weight. He paused at the end of the dock when he caught sight of Petra and Auruo, standing gravely with their heads bowed and hands clasped before them.

“Petra, Auruo.” Eren nodded solemnly. “Sorry you had to see that.”

“Eren, please,” Petra stepped forward, but one warning look from the incensed boy had the words dying on her tongue. She pursed her lips and sighed, defeated. “At least tell me where you’re going. So I might visit,” she hurriedly added.

Eren’s shoulders sagged, and a little of his resolve melted away. He didn’t know himself that much was obvious. It certainly wouldn’t be to his mother; Eren was very careful about keeping anything that happened between his husband and himself between the two of them. No love had been lost between Demeter and the God of the Underworld since the day Eren had first been dragged down here.

“I’ll figure something out,” he mumbled, suddenly looking a lot more like a miserable young man than the wrathful consort of the God of the afterlife.

Petra watched Charon help him board without another word. Eren avoided her eye as he settled at the prow, head bowed and fingers knotted in the skirts of his chiton. Cerberus let out a lone, mournful howl as the ferry slipped through the mist coating the Styx and melted into the darkness beyond. Petra turned to see Levi still standing where Eren had left him, dark gaze fixed ahead to where the ferry had long since disappeared from view. Frost webbed around his feet, snaking outwards across the marble ground with icy fingers. Petra and Auruo watched them grow with dread, powerless to allay their master’s misery.

Hades slowly began to freeze over once more.


End file.
